Mumbai Crime: Two pose as customers, stab store owner 15 times

Police investigations revealed the deceased's former bosses planned his murder as revenge for leaving and starting his own business

A murder born out of professional jealousy has ended in jail for two businessmen. The DB Marg police on July 29 arrested three men, including the two businessmen, who had given a Rs 5 lakh contract to kill one Babulal Shaini, 25, a former employee who quit to set up his own business at his Grant Road store. Shaini was stabbed 15 times by two men posing as customers on July 16. His workers found him in a pool of blood on the evening of July 16 around 7 pm. Shaini had started his business venture five months ago.

Jealous over success"Shaini was previously working for brothers Abid Amir Mohammed Ali, 32 and Shahid Amir Mohammed Ali, 21, in their family business and handled all the customers and finances. The brothers lived in Sanganer, Rajasthan and visited the shop once a month for a week," said an officer. But, trouble began brewing soon. "The Ali brothers fought with Shaini about money collection and doubted him for hiding profits. Fed up, Shaini decided to quit," said another officer. Shaini then set up Rajasthan Sound System. Within a couple of months, the Ali brothers noticed his business was succeeding, while theirs was going down. Agitated, they decided to kill Shaini.

Stabbed in cold bloodOn July 16, two men visited Shaini's shop. First, They made inquiries about speakers on display and then asked him to show one placed on a shelf. "When Babulal climbed up the ladder, one person stabbed him in his back and took him down. Then, the other one sat on his stomach and stabbed him 14 times. After making sure Babulal was dead, both the left shop and bolted the door from outside," said an officer. The police then began inquiring in neighbouring shops but failed to get a clue.

They picked up a few workers from the Ali brothers' shop for inquiry. "One of the workers told cops that a few days before the murder, the Ali brothers summoned Shaini to their shop and accused him of stealing Rs 50 lakh. Shaini rubbished their claims. A heated argument began, which ended in life-threatening warnings from the brothers," said officer.

Contract to killA team of cops then visited Rajasthan and picked up the brothers. In their inquiry, they revealed they had given two people from their village a 5 lakh contract to kill Shaini. "Afzal Akhtar, one of the attackers was assured Rs 5 lakh. He brought another man [who is absconding] who was in a debt of Rs 1.5 lakh," said another officer, adding, " The three have been charged under relevant sections of the IPC."

"Till now, we have arrested three, of which two are prime accused. They killed him as he was excelling in his business," said Dr Dnyaneshwar Chavhan, DCP Zone-2.

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